life savor(s)- noun., lif savorz., plural for life savor., Those little snippets of your day dripping from the abundance of grace in God’s hand as He sings over you…Sweet little tickles of your heart, squeals of delight as pieces of heaven land on earth. God lifting the veil to cause you to see that though this life is fleeting, and mere preparation for the LIFE to come, it is anything but ordinary, mundane, and “blah”. It is so sweet, so beautiful, so full of God’s smile, winks, and gentle but furious love. Life was meant to be radical. Just look at Father God, so extravagant in all His ways. If we just open our eyes, we will find the CROSS in our “everywheres” and freedom to live up to our purpose will come at last.

*definition by Candace D.

Hello friends of the Bridegroom,

I pray your summer (or whatever season you happen to be in around the world) is giving you all kinds of opportunities to exercise a thankful heart unto the King! He is so worthy of all our moments, our words, every breath. Even when may not feel like praising, He remains most worthy and that is when we need to rise up and worship the most!

Speaking of feelings, I wonder if you have felt as though you are being eaten alive lately? Attacked by  an invisible someone or something that wants you dead? It seems many I have talked with in the Body as of late have felt the same, intense pressure. As I pondered this, it seemed a part of me that has been asleep somehow stretched awake and I realized  we feel this way because it’s real! We are in a battle! We are the potential prey of a hungry, evil “lion”, Satan, himself. As the end of the age draws near, he works harder, prowls around more intensely hunting for our souls, thinking of every trick in the book to make us stumble, distract us, cause our eyes to come unfixed from our Prize, our Jesus. Could this sly, vile one know his days are so few? He pours out the illusion of defeat strongly on the Bride of Christ in these last days. But we are not left without hope!

I was listening to the Prayer Room live from Kansas City this morning via web stream, and Mr. Justin Rizzo was singing one of my favorite songs:

♫ I must train like an athlete, growing a little stronger each day. I must be diligent like a farmer, knowing I’ll see the fruit one day. I must fight like a soldier, lest I become a casualty. For every day, I am fighting here…on the battlefield of this age ♫

♪God, help me to be sober-minded, vigilant and self-controlled. For my enemy is like a lion, seeking whom he may destroy. So I open up my mouth and speak it helping myself to believe  that I have the power to defeat him, as I am seated now with Christ ♪

I was so touched by the anointing on these words, I found myself unable to finish brunch. I had to stop everything and praise the Lord for His promise of keeping us from stumbling as we choose daily to abide in Him! His Spirit ministered to the depths of my soul and tears of revival washed my heart clean. We are so weak, friends. As we walk, sometimes crawl on this journey of life, we often see a huge road of uncertainty ahead and wonder how in the world we will ever make it. Oh, we must not forget that we do not walk alone! The very One who called us to this Narrow Road, is the Good Shepherd that will keep guiding, perfectly leading, and even carry us when need be until we reach the finish mark. We have not the power to win, to victor over darkness in our own human strength. BUT, as we keep coming back to Him, He is able and willing to complete the work He began in us! It delights His heart to finish what He started! When we give our all, He will give the rest. His strength begins where ours ends. But, we have to keep going! If we don’t quit, we win! It’s a promise!

One thing that really caught my attention in this worship song was the part about “opening up my mouth to speak it”. It is so important to speak words of LIFE, TRUTH, and VICTORY over ourselves and others and into situations. Faith comes by hearing! And hearing by the Word of God! So if our faith is feeling stale, the best thing we can do is read the Word aloud, and speak its Truth and Life into every aspect of our life, and the lives of our loved ones.

Every day is a battle here. It won’t BECOME a battle eventually. It IS a battle right now, and things are going to only grow more intense as we get closer to His coming. We won’t win if we don’t fight well. We must daily pray back the Word to Him from 1 Peter 4:7, “Help me to be sober-minded, vigilant and self-controlled…because the end of all things is near”.

I go to my garden every day, and God always, always meets me there with a brand new heart lesson to teach me. Some lessons, He teaches me over and over again. Three things that a gardener learns early on is: 

1. You have to get control of the weeds or they will take over and choke out every good fruit.

2. You have a lot of work to do if you want to see a worthy harvest. The work doesn’t stop once everything is planted. It takes diligence to maintain and keep everything healthy and growing well.

3. If you’re not patient, you will never reap the harvest you dream of. Plants don’t grow overnight, but over time, you know your work is paying off. You can see growth and beauty. When you see blossoms, it’s a given. Fruit is coming soon. You don’t know the day exactly. You just know the harvest will be ready shortly.

The Lord is giving me grace to daily apply these same principles in my own life.  I’ve learned it is best to prevent “weeds” or yank them up by the roots, rather than letting them grow even a little bit before getting rid of them. It’s the same with bad habits, distractions, or any “little fox” in our lives trying to steal the life out of us by sucking up lots of our time and energy.

In the same way that our garden may be in trouble, if we aren’t dilligent to check on it daily, so can our spirit suffer when we don’t have time with the Lord, at His feet, in His Word daily. Even when we think we may not need a fresh word from Him today, or we’re too busy to sit still- that’s often when He wants to teach us the most profound lessons, speak to us in the most “real” way. I went up to my garden one day to find a critter had eaten nearly all of my sweet potato leaves! Then, it had moved onto the beans. Help! Had I not gone up when I did, thinking there was no major work needing done, the plants could have been destroyed. Thankfully, the “Groundhog Off” kept the critters away.

God has really taught me this past year that endurance, patience is required of Him to win the prize. It is simply not possible to get there without it. In Luke 21, as Jesus was explaining to His friends that they would be persecuted and hated on account of Him, He gave them a  very powerful word about patience, “By your steadfastness and patient endurance you shall win the true life of your souls.” Wow! It is by patient endurance that our souls will ultimately win! Those who play the “church games” will never make it when the days grow truly evil, friends. The last age is not for the faint hearted, or those who think they must have what they want, when they want it. It is PATIENCE and ENDURANCE that gets us victoriously to the end! It will be those who are willing to die with Christ who will eternally live with Him. We must wake up from our slumber and realize that the Kingdom of God is at hand! And the Kingdom is not for wimps! In the same way that a farmer’s patient endurance will eventually, in God’s most beautiful, perfect time, produce a bountiful harvest, so will our endurance in this Good Fight lead to the eternal prize of being in the presence of our Beautiful Savior, uninterupted, forever!

I was especially delighted to find the very same words from the morning worship, the same theme that God had hovering over my heart as I’ve spent countless hours already this year tending my garden…the same words were right there in His precious Word!

From 2 Timothy 2 :

So you, my son, be strong (strengthened inwardly) in the grace (spiritual blessing) that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus. Take [with me] your share of the hardships and suffering [which you are called to endure] as a good (first-class) soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him. And if anyone enters competitive games, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully (fairly, according to the rules laid down). [It is] the hard-working farmer [who labors to produce] who must be the first partaker of the fruits. Think over these things I am saying [understand them and grasp their application], for the Lord will grant you full insight and understanding in everything. The saying is sure and worthy of confidence: If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny and disown and reject Him, He will also deny and disown and reject us. If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.

(Amplified)

Wow! How alive and active are His beautiful, powerful Words! Keep running, dear friends! Keep fighting with all that is in you, knowing that when your strength is gone, His only begins and He will fight for you and with you because He is faithful to the end.

If you don’t quit, you win!!

Running the race till I see His face,

“I was wrestling with what I thought were demons to escape the wilderness…when finally I learned that is where You are. Yes, I am finding you in the desolate, mundane, bonds. You are teaching me, changing me, preparing me for a greater day. In the dark, my soul swells with light. In nothingness, You give me songs of thanks. In the unknown, I cling tighter to Your garment. In the chains, my spirit learns to fly.

I would not have chosen this road on my own. I do not want to be here, honestly. But if this is where Your glory is the greatest. If here is where You make my heart like Yours… If here is where You are, how can I long to be anywhere else? I must have You, Lord. You are my source. I know no life apart from You. If obedience is here in the face of hungry lions, then so be it. Here I am, Lord. I say “yes” again.”

Hello and many springtime, sunshiney blessings to all the dear ones reading the blog! I pray this season finds your heart as cheerful and beautiful as the bursting flowers, chirping birds, and glorious noonday sun. But if  that is not the case, it is okay. God is able to keep renewing our hearts and minds. He is the happy Worker in the vineyard of our hearts and souls. He will not stop until we are the dream of His heart, until we look just like Him. Oh the long suffering, the patience of Jesus!

A lesson He has been teaching me lately is “It is okay to be real”. He loves our honest hearts, even if they are not exactly like His just yet. Pure honesty is our escort to being changed, to really seeing His hand move. He sees through to our deepest parts anyway. If we try to hide it from Him, we’re only making the process more difficult and hurting ourselves.

In all honesty, I have to say that I’ve been in a very trying season as of late. Nothing has turned out as I anticipated. I am tired, weak, and my prayers feel dry and dead. Disappointment can do a number on a heart if she doesn’t stay focused on the True Prize of Jesus, and ask for grace to keep trusting. Daily time quiet at His feet, meditating on His beauty and glory and worth which births pure worship, feeding on the Word, and listening for His voice is the only way out of such a dungeon. We must ask Him daily to give us grace to walk in the Spirit, not our flesh. We don’t go by how it looks or feels. We go by what He says. When we keep coming back to Him, whether we feel like it is making a difference or not, He is eventually and surely found by us-when we search for Him with all of our hearts. (Jeremiah 29:13)

These droughts of the soul, He uses to refine us and bring us forth as gold (Job 23:10). He will take any attack the enemy meant for harm, and use it for His glory and our best. He will use it to remove the junk inside that keeps us from being as close as we can be to Him. (Romans 8:28, Psalm 126:5)

In the barren, desolate times of nothingness… that is when the most profound, eternal works are being performed on the inside, in secret where no one can see but the very Gardener of Hearts Himself, Jesus. And no drought lasts forever. In Isaiah 58:11, The righteous are compared to a well-watered garden whose waters fail not. He promises to guide us continually and satisfy our soul in drought! What hope beams from this one Scripture!

May we REMAIN in Him, that the work He has began will be completed in us and that our joy may be full and overflowing (John 15:4-8). It is His delight to (as gentle as possible)  prune away branches in us that do nor bear fruit so that our lives flourish with God-beauty and purity and the likeness of Jesus the older we get! And apart from Him, dear friends, we can never bear any good fruit at all. He alone is our Source.

So if this is a dry season for you, take heart! He is preparing you for something great! The unseen work yields the greatest harvest and if you trust Him and remain in Him, you will come out changed yet again. He loves taking us from glory to glory!

Do ask the Lord what He wishes to teach you during this time and listen for His answer. Do not get into a pit of self pity and “woe is me”. Be careful of the words that escape your lips in times of discouragement. The power of life and death is in your tongue. It is very easy and comes very natural to speak death and negativity into an uncertain time or season. I know this because I’m just as human as the rest of us and struggle with the temptation to carelessly say things that have no “life weight”. Ask Father to put a guard over your lips,  but most of all to transform your heart. I pray this every time I think of it!

I came across an article from a past issue of Watching for the Morning. I thought it would encourage you to keep singing and trusting even when you cannot see anything with your natural eyes.

In Desolation . . .

I’m not sure if I would have even thought to use the word “desolation,” except the Lord has been singing so many beautiful Scriptures over me that include it, the value of it, and the promised restoration that follows. Sometimes, with the sickness and every day stressors I see in my parents, I also see a lack of hope and a lack of life in our home, a weighing down that tends to steal joy, if allowed to. Seeing this hurts me deeply, as I long for them to rest in Jesus and not be so given to the temptation of despairing. Seeing it also makes me feel like the “black sheep” because I so desire to have the joy of the Lord even in dark circumstances, and it can be very difficult being the only joyful one. There is certainly desolation in our home right now. Dry deserts that need pools of Living Water. Ruins that need Godly restoration. People who need to know that Christ has come to set them free. There is hope deferred, things that need to be laid at Jesus’ feet. In the middle of this desolate time and place, I choose joy and I choose worship. I choose to be His handmaiden at all times, not only when I may “feel” like it. The Lord has sung to me the most beautiful of songs lately. I’d love to share it with you;
Isaiah 54:
Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes… (1,2) Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer (4-8). O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children (11-13). No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD (17). Wow! How absolutely timely, precious and refreshing to the weary soul!
I must add this: If we do not appreciate Christ in His fullness as our Husband, the Lover of our soul, and our utter Satisfier, then we will never, ever be truly joyful or fulfilled. Even a “dream come true” earthly marriage and a houseful of merry children will never satisfy us if we do not grow both content and overwhelmingly “lovesick” in Christ alone.
I also found a lovely quote by C.H. Spurgeon based on this very Scripture [emphasis below is mine]:
“Prayer is lifeless, love is cold, faith is weak, each grace in the garden of our heart languishes and droops. We are like flowers in the hot sun, requiring the refreshing shower. In such a condition what are we to do? The text is addressed to us in just such a state. “Sing, O barren, break forth and cry aloud.” But what can I sing about? I cannot talk about the present, and even the past looks full of barrenness. Ah! I can sing of Jesus Christ. I can talk of visits which the Redeemer has aforetimes paid to me; or if not of these, I can magnify the great love wherewith he loved his people when he came from the heights of heaven for their redemption. I will go to the cross again. Come, my soul, heavy laden thou wast once, and thou didst lose thy burden there. Go to Calvary again. Perhaps that very cross which gave thee life may give thee fruitfulness. What is my barrenness? It is the platform for his fruit-creating power. What is my desolation? It is the black setting for the sapphire of his everlasting love. I will go in poverty, I will go in helplessness, I will go in all my shame and backsliding, I will tell him that I am still his child, and in confidence in His faithful heart, even I, the barren one, will sing and cry aloud.
I pray you are encouraged and blessed by this amazing word, whether you are in a desolate season or a rich one.

For, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Song of Solomon 2:11-13

“I’m holding onto Your divine love. I’m holding on and I’m not letting go. It’s not my zeal-it’s that Your love is strong. It’s not my strength- it’s that You’re faithful.”

~lyrics from the 6:00 am set w/ Jon Thurlow at International House of Prayer, KC

Happy New Year, friends! As I journey to my little blog, I can hardly believe how long it has been since I have written! I am so sorry to those faithful ones who look for encouragement here. I really hope to be more diligent in updating more often. 

 Life has been blissfully full and God, as always has been overwhelmingly faithful. Mother and I are doing well. I pray you and your families are prospering in health even as your souls prosper.

As much I enjoy writing each issue of Watching for the Morning, I have also enjoyed the “rest” season it seems to be in currently. As I wait for donations to send out the next issue, Father God has thrust me into lots of beautiful things to keep me busy in other areas. I pray that when the next issue does arrive to you, it will be worth the wait! It’s rather funny not even being able to give an estimated date on it’s departure, but that’s just part of the delightful adventure that pilgrimage in Jesus brings, I suppose. Thank you for your patience, dear ones.

 I am incredibly honored, humbled and blessed to lead a young girls Bible Study called “Bright Lights” each week.  Praying, preparing, and teaching happily occupies a good deal of my time. It is so amazingly beautiful to watch these little ones develop a hunger for Jesus, and to be given the grace to see each one through the Father’s eyes. To see with faith’s eyes that they are not going to follow a broad, destructive road that many their age will is so exhilerating. My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude to God.

I continue to work with 4 year olds daily during the fall, winter, and spring months, make homemade bread and other healthy yummy things and help tend to my 91 year old grandma who is also doing well health-wise.

My dad has been with Jesus 1.5 years now which seems surreal even still. I still miss him dearly, but each day with Jesus and the hope of knowing Him intimately dulls the sting. How thankful I am to know Jesus in a way that is not “far off”. He is so real, so tender and gentle and delights in His children coming to sit at His feet.

At 30 years old now, I continue to wait on Abba to provide the husband He has chosen for me in His perfect time. My flesh does not usually understand what the “hold up” is, but my spirit continues to sing, “I LOVE YOUR LEADERSHIP. I TRUST YOUR LEADERSHIP. YOUR LEADERSHIP IS PERFECT. I AM OVERHWHELMINGLY BLESSED TO BE UNDER IT!” I know this to be true. Time, age, life circumstance never changes the constance and faithfulness of  God.

You see, I am human and I sometimes wonder and look around and even get a bit nervous.  Still yet, I know what God called me to all those years ago and I never attempted to have a “plan b” because only His plan is best and right.  Because HE is PERFECT, I can lean into His love, consume His Word, rest in His arms, keep my gaze fixed on His fiery, jealous, perfect- loving eyes, and He grants the grace to keep trusting until I see…to operate under unseen hope, which is the only real hope according to His unfailing Word. What a joy to remember that in my weakness His strength shines all the more! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Dear friends, may you know how much the heart of God is consumed with love for you. May you realize afresh that one look at you moves His heart. He thought you were worth becoming flesh and dying the death of every sinful human being (which would certainly include every single one of us!) for! You were the joy set before Him! And His love draws us to repentance and obedience. It changes us forever and gives us grace to abide in Him, continue in Him, dying daily to ourselves as we follow after Him on the Narrow Road to life.

May the God of all peace and perfect love stir a new fire in your heart for reckless abandon and dependence on Jesus. May you know that His plans are always best and that your prayers, your waiting, your faithfulness has never been in vain. He sees it all and it is beautiful to Him and He is not nervous because you see nothing happening when you think it ought to be. Those who wait on Him will not be put to shame, and as we wait, our strength is renewed over and over again.

My charge to you this 2011:

DON’T STOP WAITING

DON’T TRY TO TAKE THINGS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS

DON’T TRY TO GET AHEAD OF JESUS

DON’T SETTLE FOR 2ND BEST FOR ANY REASON ( BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL OF A HASTY, WEARY SPIRIT. ASK GOD FOR GRACE.) 

DON’T NOURISH SEEDS OF OFFENSE, DISCOURAGEMENT,  OR DISCONTENTMENT. ASK JESUS TO REMOVE THEM.

DON’T MISS ONE TEACHABLE MOMENT FROM GOD

DON’T LOWER YOUR STANDARDS

DON’T STOP PRAYING

DON’T STOP SERVING

DON’T STOP HOPING

DON’T STOP BELIEVING

DON’T STOP FEASTING ON HIS WORD

DON’T STOP SITTING AT HIS FEET

DON’T LOOK TO THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT BUT KEEP YOUR EYE FOCUSED ON THE LOVER OF YOUR SOUL

DON’T FORSAKE ABOUNDING GOOD FRUIT (This is how they will know we are His disciples)

DON’T BE DRIVEN BY THE EARTHLY RESULT, BUT SET YOUR HEART ON ETERNITY

DON’T GIVE UP

DON’T GIVE IN

IF YOU DON’T QUIT RUNNING THE RACE, YOU’LL WIN!! You win because HE has won!

I pray your New Year is full of joy, peace, love, faithfulness, meekness, patience and all the fullness of the gifts of the precious Holy Spirit! May He bless you in surprising ways as you serve, share the Gospel, pray without ceasing, and love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength! Abundant blessings on you!

Because of my soon returning Jesus,

Candace <3

Taken Dec. 30 in the Prayer Room (IHOP), Kansas City, MO